Japanese people know everything they need to know about Oregon.

As I left the ticket gate at the train station on my way to work this morning, I accidentally kicked something on the ground that make a little "clink" sound. Looking down to make sure I hadn't dropped anything, I thought I saw a bottle cap. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be something far more spectacular: a little pin-back button. But this isn't any ordinary button; it is a concisely-worded treasure map. If you know what I mean.

I'm bragging about my dinner

Last Friday I held my annual Thanksgiving dinner party with a couple of my housemates.  I think this is the one tradition that I've done every year that I've been in Japan- it's my favorite holiday, so I like to share it.

We don't always have an easy time procuring all of the ingredients we need to make the "real" Thanksgiving dishes, but we do a pretty good job of improvising.  And this year there were new recipes!  My housemate Eli made his family recipe for cranberry-citrus compote (which we used as cranberry sauce and was also delightful when added to our pre-dinner gin and tonics) and also made poached pears in spiced red wine.

Pre-funking with Eli's "holiday" gin and tonics

Yummy poached pears

Full disclosure: we cheated with the gravy (it came from a packet), the chicken (cooked by Costco) and the dessert (also courtesy of Costco...), but everything else was prepared in our own kitchen.  By the time we were all ready to go, we had quite a spread!

Our Thanksgiving meal was complimented by sour cream and onion chips, courtesy of Jay...

 
This was, in fact, the most "American" Thanksgiving I've celebrated in Japan, meaning that I had a record three Americans in attendance, along with one of our Japanese roommates who happened to be in just the right place at just the right time. :)

My plate. Wasn't it beautiful?

The biggest short-coming of our authentic American meal was the lack of pumpkin pie.  In Japan, Costco usually carries it around this time of year, so I was feeling optimistic when I went to pick one up.  But when I finally made it to the bakery section...much to my surprise, no pie!

Hoping that I'd overlooked it, I asked one of the staff.  She took a few moments to think about it before finally suggesting that they might have had it, but had sold out.  By that time I had realized that she probably didn't know what pumpkin pie was, but she had to tell me something and "sold out" was the safest answer.

I begrudgingly settled on a cake that would have to serve as a shoddy substitute (pumpkin pie is irreplaceable...), but things turned out not to be quite as disappointing as I'd prepared myself for.  We repurposed some of the spiced wine from Eli's poached pears as a sauce, and drizzled it over the top of our slices of ricotta cheese and apple cake and it was delightful!  The spices from the wine made it taste very much like we thought a holiday cake should.  (Yay for cinnamon!)

In the end, I think we had a meal that pretty much any American expat would have been proud (read: jealous) of.  My guests have already tried reserving their places for next year. :)

I dilly-dally during lunch

The vegetable peeler has gone missing in our kitchen.

For the past couple of months I've done without, but had to resign myself to using one of the two chef's knives we've got.  (We don't have a paring knife either...ah! the joys of a communal kitchen.)

When it comes to replacing things or adding to our (disappointingly small) repertory, I have to pay for it myself and then I'm usually left with two options: 1) leave it in the kitchen for others to use, with fingers crossed that it gets washed every time and doesn't have the same fate as the peeler, or 2) keep it in my own cabinet or room, but who likes having to keep kitchen equipment in their Japanese-sized bedroom?

But I finally broke down and bought one yesterday because I anticipate needing one tomorrow night.  I walked over to Flying Tiger (America, you have no idea what you're missing...) to pick one up on my lunch break.  It was raining, and since that store is usually craaaazy busy, I was hoping that the weather would chase away a few customers and help me get through the line more quickly.

My pretty, new purple potato peeler (bonus points to myself for alliteration), however, is not really the topic of this post.  It's merely the premise.  The walk over is the best part.

The rain had blackened the bark on the zelkova trees lining Omotesando-dori, complementing the reds and oranges of their turning leaves.

The steeple of my church

A woman in one of my classes told me that she's got the same kind of tree near her house, but they never look as nice as these do in the fall.

A little something extra to appreciate on Thanksgiving.

(And I wish a happy Thanksgiving holiday to all my friends in America!)

3D-Art at Shibuya Hikarie

A couple of pieces of 3D floor-/street-art are on display in a highrise near the train station I use for work.  Stopped by to get a couple of pictures today.

I was surprised by how many people didn't even notice that it was there. The guy in the yellow jacket who looks like he's walking across the stone steps?  He didn't even realize he was doing that.

I wish I could tell you why they went with the sweets theme.  Reminded me a little bit of playing a game of Candy Land.  Also, a giant diamond ring, a bear with wings, and an upside-down wine glass?  Beats me...

You'd actually have to be a bit taller than I am to have the right viewing angle, but it's still a pretty good optical illusion.

And here's another detail of what the image looks like from a different direction.  You can see the "stand here" spot near the blue cone at the top left.  I feel like it must have taken equal parts creativity and technical skill to put this together...

Central Japan: Day 7

Ahhhhh, the last day of vacation.

View of Osaka City and its fall colors from the top of the castle wall

Today I was in Osaka.  The hotel I've been in for the last 4 days has been in this area, but I'd not yet been out-and-about in the daytime until today. One of my top priorities was getting some momiji tempura (maple leaves deep-fried in sweetened tempura batter). 

This required a trip outside of the downtown area to a smaller city called Mino-o, which is famous for selling these little treats.  As you can imagine, they also have a lot of gorgeous scenery.  Lots and lots of autumn leaves for visitors (and residents, too, I guess) to enjoy, along with a famous waterfall, temples, and a quaint little shop-lined street selling local produce, snacks, and souvenirs.

Ryuan-ji temple in Mino-o

Some of the local produce

Souvenir shopping done, then back to the big city.  I headed for Osaka Castle park first. Before the main event, though...

...Ginkgo trees

...and this man, impressing everyone with his hawk.

And at last, there it was.  All shiny in the afternoon sun.

You'd think I'd have seen enough of these after a week of castle- and temple-gazing, but they are (almost always) quite a sight to see.  And this one is certainly no exception; all that gold is very pretty.

Next stop was lunch in the Shinsekai district, famous for--among other things--its abundance of kushi-katsu (or kushi-age, as it's called in Tokyo) shops and blowfish restaurants.

Shinsekai district with Tsutenkaku Tower in the background.  Can you guess where they sell blowfish?

Kushi-age (I'll stick to my local dialect) is a dish that I really like: skewered meat or veggies which are battered, covered in panko bread crumbs, deep-fried and then served with tonkatsu sauce.

The outside of the shop where I ate kushi-katsu

I always go for the veggies, and this time the shop even had "dessert" selections, too.  I chose banana--served with whipped cream--and ice cream.

L-R and top to bottom: onion, lotus root, eggplant, asparagus, and potato

After my late lunch, it was time to head back towards the main station area.  Just one more stop before getting on the bullet train to Tokyo: the Floating Garden Observatory, an open-air observatory on top of the Umeda Sky Building.  Got there just in time for this:

Some beautiful scenery to complete the trip!

And now...back to reality.  I'm home in Tokyo and will have one more day tomorrow to kick back a little bit before heading back to work on Monday.

Phew! What a week of posts...I hope you've enjoyed them.  Post your thoughts or questions in the comments section below; I'd love to hear from you!

Central Japan: Day 6

A second day in Kyoto

I made my first stop at Kinkakuji, the "Temple of the Golden Pavilion". I'd seen pictures before and this was probably the site I was most looking forward to seeing in person.

It turned out to be one of the most beautiful temples I've ever seen.  Add blue skies and you end up with some amazing photos, not to mention a breathtaking walk around the garden.

The day was too nice to take the bus to my next two destinations, so I decided to walk: first to an art museum featuring 20th century Japanese traditional-style paintings and then the world-famous Ryōan-ji zen rock garden. (Don't tell anyone I said this, but I was a little underwhelmed with the garden...)

Thought I'd try the Imperial Palace next, only to discover after arriving that you can only be admitted inside the palace grounds if you are on a guided tour, for which you have to make an appointment in advance.  Out of luck.  I did get to find out just how tight their security is, though, when one boy from a group of high schoolers walked over and got too close to the outer wall (maybe he touched it?)...and set of the alarm!  There was a booming siren and a woman's recorded voice shouting at people not to go near the walls.  That excitement made the trip to the palace worth it, even though I never set foot inside.

From there I walked another 20 minutes to the Nijō Castle grounds and the Ninomaru Palace, arriving just in time to take a tour of the interior before they closed for the day, then have a walk through the gardens.

Blue skies above the Ninomaru Palace roofs

View of Honmaru Palace in the late afternoon sunshine

Hoping I hadn't run out of time, I found a bus headed in the direction of a site I had wanted to see on Wednesday, but didn't have time for: the Tō-ji Buddhist temple. What I really wanted to see was its pagoda, which is the tallest wooden structure in the country.  In the end I got there 30 minutes after they had closed the gates, but luckily the tower is visible from the streets outside, and I got a pretty cool shot of it at dusk:

Finally, I made my way back to Kyoto Station where I had dinner reservations at a restaurant specializing in kyoyasai, a variety of vegetables from the Kyoto area.  Here's what I ordered:

In the black bowl is a grilled vegetable salad with broccoli, tomato, pumpkin, naganegi (Japanese long onion), daikon (Japanese radish), nagaimo (a type of Japanese yam), green peppers, eggplant, lotus root, and an unidentifiable soft, white vegetable. On the plate is pumpkin and boiled vegetables wrapped with cheese and then deep-fried and served with sauce.  In the glass is plum wine and black currant juice with added kyoyasai tomato and carrot juice.  A very nice way to end the day!

Tomorrow is my last day...I'm spending most of the day in Osaka and then taking the bullet train back to Tokyo in the evening.  Stay tuned for one more post tomorrow to complete the week.

Central Japan: Day 5

Uji and Nara

Uji River

Absolutely the most beautiful skies I've seen all week...even if it was accompanied by the coldest temperatures.  Started the day off in Uji City, just south of Kyoto.  I went to see the freshly renovated Byōdō-in Buddhist temple.

The city is also known as a center of tea production and had a number of green tea products available in the shop-lined streets leading from the station to the temple.  They had everything, from tea leaves to tea powder to hand cream to cookies to ice cream cones...to these green tea chewy rice balls:

Matcha dango (chewy rice balls)

Back on the train. My next stop was Nara, Japan's first permanent capital city and also a center for all things Buddhism.  It's also famous for the deer that walk freely throughout the Nara Park World Heritage site. In Shinto religion, deer are considered divine messengers and in Nara, the deer themselves are a symbol of the city as well as a protected "national treasure".  And according to the sign that greets you upon entry to the park, it looks like that special status has gone to their heads.

Today's Japanese lesson.  Also, this sign suggests that deer are
particularly aggressive towards elderly women and small girls.  Jerks.

They sell packets of shika-sembe (specially made crackers for deer) all around the park, and the deer can identify in a heartbeat anyone who's got some.  And they'll head-butt anyone that they suspect is holding out on them.  I almost got my camera stolen by a deer who was brazen enough to stick her nose in my coat pocket just to make absolutely certain that I was cracker-less.  I watched another deer stick her head right into a man's open briefcase.  Anything that looks like it might possibly contain crackers, and these animals have no shame.  When I did have crackers I learned pretty quickly to pop one into their mouth and keep walking.  If you stand still to watch them eat, you risk being trampled.

The deer in the foreground has a cracker in its mouth, and you can see
the vendor's table with stacks of crackers directly behind the woman.

Then the main attraction: the Tōdai-ji Buddhist temple complex and its Daibutsu (Great Buddha statue).

Even if you don't get trampled by deer, you're probably equally likely to get trampled by swarms of schoolchildren.

Daibutsu

Followed the temple with a walk through the park.  Got interviewed by several groups of junior high school students.  When they go on school trips, teachers occasionally make their students seek out foreigners to speak to in English.  Today they were from Gifu, where I happened to have been this past Sunday (see Day 1).  They had just a few sentences that they'd memorized and a couple of questions to ask me, before requesting that I sign my name in their notebooks.  Felt like a celebrity handing out autographs...

Nara Park

Next stop was Kōfuku-ji:

The pagoda at Kōfuku-ji

Twilight behind the South Octagonal Hall

Last stop was a shabu-shabu restaurant that is run by the mother of a guy who manages my favorite local eatery in Tokyo.  Even though it is somewhat common Japanese fare, this was my first shabu-shabu experience.  In a restaurant, you are given plates of raw vegetables and meat, a bowl of dipping sauce (sesame, in this case), and a pot of boiling water.  You drop the veggies in to boil for a few minutes, but the meat you just pick up with chopsticks and drag through the water a few times until it's cooked, which usually takes just a few seconds.  Then meat and vegetables are dipped in the sauce.  Soooo good; I'm going to have to find one of these places in Tokyo...

Full of food and worn out, I boarded a train back to Osaka.  One more day in Kyoto tomorrow!

Central Japan: Day 4

My first visit to Kyoto!

I started the day off at Fushimi Inari-taisha, which is the head shrine for a branch of Shinto that is represented by the symbol of a fox.  This shrine is also famous for its path leading up a mountain that is lined with thousands of torii, the red gates that usually indicate the entrance to a shrine.  The path is actually the reason I went.

The path splits into two sections for part of the trip

The gates look plain when viewed while ascending, but on the way back (or if you just turn around on the way up) you see one side of the gate marked with the date of its placement (I think) and the other side is marked with the address and name of the company or individual who paid for it.  I've heard that some of these gates, depending on their size, cost several thousand dollars each.

The fourth one in from the left is an address somewhere in my neighborhood in Tokyo

More E-ma (see yesterday's post).  I like the faces drawn on these: combine your prayers with an art project!

Next I went to Tofukuji, which I had read was famous for its autumn leaves.  Turns out I might have been just a few days too early for the best colors, but I did see some of the best roof shapes of the trip so far (yay!):

Looking straight up from the ground below one of the two-storied pavilions

Enjoyed an Uji Matcha (a type of green tea from Uji, just south of Kyoto City) and saw a few interesting sights on the way to my next destination:

Dressed for the colder weather...

A snack option on the way up the hill to the entrance.

Next stop was Ginkaku-ji, one of the most well-known temples in Kyoto.  An absolutely perfect time of year to see the turning leaves.

The "Silver Pavilion"

The rock garden and some of the foliage.

Another part of the garden

From there, I walked about 30 minutes down the Philosopher's Path to my next stop, Eikando.  This is the head temple for one of the Buddhist sects and also another spot noted for its autumn leaves.  I arrived half an hour before they opened the gates to see the trees illuminated in the dark.

My pictures just don't do it justice...my poor little camera has never been good at night photography and I was a little disappointed tonight's results, but it was a beautiful walk nonetheless.

Ate a murasaki-imo (purple potato) croquette as I made my way back to the train station and enjoyed a view of Kyoto Tower before heading back to the hotel.

Next up: Nara!